Summer, if anything, makes for bare skin and barer shelves. So with the dog days officially upon us, there’s no better time to indulge in some well-deserved waterside reading. Lose the textbooks, start settling in, and get ready to power through this list.

For a quintessential rainy day in bed, read:

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Just as a thunderstorm has the power to keep you curled up under warm sheets, this, too, promises an equally magnetic effect. Edwards emerges as a born storyteller in relating a tale of well-kept secrets and parallel lives. After a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins—a healthy boy and a girl with Down syndrome—he tells his wife that the second baby died at birth. In fact, he has ordered his nurse to disappear with the child. What unfolds over the next twenty-five years envelops the two families in heartache. Provocative, emotional, and elegantly crafted, this novel will resonate with you long after the rain stops.

If you need a good laugh, read:

Bossypants by Tina Fey

This ever-quotable memoir could very well qualify as Fey’s induction into the Hollywood Hall of Fame. A collection of twenty-five essays, it chronicles the engaging life of everyone’s favorite powerhouse. Her sardonic wit, in fact, resonates so strongly with each anecdote that the accompanying (and Grammy nominated) audiobook isn’t even necessary.

If you want to gain some perspective, read:

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

As if growing up weren’t already hard enough. Born to an unstable mother and an alcoholic father, Jeannette and her three siblings are no strangers to dysfunction. Homelessness, police encounters, and domestic disputes were among the unlikely constants in their ever-evolving childhood. Yet Walls remains unapologetic in her raw retelling of this life—one punctuated by betrayal and remarkable tenacity. Written with the strongest sense of self, her memoir is much more than a brilliant story of triumph. Here is something guaranteed to make you think twice before bashing your own upbringing.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

In a series of bittersweet vignettes, this book takes to answering one of life’s most poignant questions: “What happens when you die?” Using the fictitious Eddie as a vehicle for exploring the possibility of an afterlife, Albom writes to make sense of human value and purpose. Eddie’s journey through the five stages of Heaven is exactly the reminder you need that every life intersects for a reason.

If you’re a sucker for mysteries, read:

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Following the murder of a well-known millionaire, sixteen strangers are named as his heirs. This is the story of their race to identify a culprit and inherit his fortune—a challenge that only intensifies when the will reveals that one of them may be guilty. (Cue the subterfuge and shifty glances). Laced with secrets and propelled by increasingly dynamic characters, the book is an absolute thrill to read. It presents itself in a timeless, re-readable fashion that few novels do.

If you’re bottling a cry that’s long overdue, read:

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Amir is the son of a wealthy businessman. Hassan is the son of a servant. The two grow up inseparably as children, remaining fiercely loyal to one another despite a separation of class. When a chain of unspeakable events unfolds, however, the relationship begins to crumble. And so Amir is left to embark on a cross-continental quest for redemption. Set against the backdrop of a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, the book delivers a hard look at friendship, sacrifice, and what it means to love unconditionally. You’ll want to read this one with a continuous supply of tissues on hand.

For that hot beach holiday, read:

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Just when you think it’s your typical “boy meets girl” plotline, girl discovers boy’s ability to time travel. And so begins the narrative of Henry and Clare. Spanning 85 years, their love story is the epitome of the sweeping romance novel (and definitely something worth gushing about over mid-morning mimosas with the girls). Here, the pleasure of fantasy and the starkness of reality blend and burrow together in an all-encompassing medley of emotion. Besides, what better way to detach from reality than with something as escapist as time traveling?

If you’re just itching to get your hands on something, read:

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

A young computer genius ostracized by his family as much as he is by his peers. A clique whose claim to high school notoriety rests on shared good looks and a mutual fear of social obscurity. A superior court judge too preoccupied with legal matters to attend to the cases that hit closer to home. A school shooting. Using multiple first-person perspectives, this intricate take on tragedy is gripping, fast-paced, and hauntingly accurate. It’s no wonder Picoult totes eight New York Times bestsellers to date.